Land Stewardship

Traditional and high-tech tools are revealing details about where Mountain Plovers spend time during migration and over winter—highlighting critical habitat locations and guiding much-needed conservation efforts.

As our population grows, so does the footprint for housing, commercial businesses, and food production. Habitat loss is having a big impact on grassland and prairie birds, and private lands are critical to that story. Bird Conservancy is working with diverse partners, including land developers, to lighten our environmental impact and deploy innovative techniques to conserve iconic birds like the Burrowing Owl.

Dana Ripper, Director of Missouri River Bird Observatory, shares how earlier career experiences at Bird Conservancy of the Rockies (then Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) are helping foster and support bird conservation in the heart of the Midwest.

The grasslands of the Chihuahuan desert provide important overwintering habitat for over 90% of the migratory grassland species in western North America. Recently, our team joined partners and private landowners on a scenic tour through northern Mexico to visit some of Sustainable Grazing Network ranches that are working to conserve and restore grassland habitat for the benefit of people and birds.

The Central Plains Experimental Range in Northern Colorado provides the perfect place for researchers and ranchers to come together and explore new ways to achieve maximum economic yields alongside quality habitat for grassland birds.

After several decades of steep declines, Aplomado Falcon populations are slowly rising again in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico, thanks to the efforts of our local partners, ranchers and biologists who are working hard to improve habitat, providing nesting locations, and closely monitor the progress of this threatened species.